Once upon a time, a man named Pierre Parrant built a tavern near the headwaters of the Mississippi, on land belonging to the Dakota people. Parrant must have been a mean ugly fellow, because he was known as “Pig’s Eye.” In turn, the village that grew up around him was called Pig’s Eye Landing.

Fortunately, people’s attention was drawn away from the tavern by a shiny new log chapel. Settlers tastefully renamed the town after the chapel’s patron, St. Paul, by 1841. Eventually, St. Paul merged with nearby Minneapolis, named for the Sioux word minne (water) and Greek word polis (city). Today, they’re known as the Twin Cities.

And that is how you, dear reader, were spared an arts roundup on a place called Pig’s Eye Landing. Since Minnesota’s two largest cities are full of wonderful artists and cultural sites, we certainly would have covered them, whatever their names.

Here are some people and places that make the Twin Cities so amazing!

Weisman Art Museum (est. 1934)

Minnesota had a university before becoming a state in 1858, but the University of Minnesota (est. 1851) was not graced by an art museum until 1934. It was renamed in 1993 after Minneapolis-born businessman Frederick R. Weisman. He donated $3 million for a new building by the prize-winning architect Frank Gehry.

The bright steel panels and improbable angles of the Weisman might remind you of Gehry’s other buildings, such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Inside, you will find wonderful collections of Korean furniture and early 20th-century American art. If you visit before December 30, 2024, you can also tour a special exhibit by one of America’s greatest living artists, Kara Walker.

Minneapolis-St. Paul Film Society (est. 1962)

In 1962, a World War II veteran, journalist, and University of Minnesota graduate student named Al Milgrom (1922-2020) started bringing independent and international films to the Twin Cities. The organization Milgrom founded is still flourishing over 60 years later as the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) Film Society.

The MSP Film Society organizes screenings of indie classics and new releases at the Main Cinema in downtown Minneapolis. It also sponsors special events. The monthly series MN Made features work by local filmmakers. The MSP International Film Festival has brought film lovers to the Twin Cities every year since 1981. Its 44th edition will take place from April 2 – 13, 2025.

Paisley Park (est. 1987)

Fans of Prince (1958-2016) had already imagined Paisley Park through song, but in the late 1980s, it became a real place in Chanhassen, MN, just southwest of Minneapolis. The 65,000-square-foot structure served Prince as both home and recording studio. You won’t be surprised by its location if you recall one of the Minnesota native’s celebrated quotations: “I like Hollywood. I just like Minneapolis a little better.”

Artists like Madonna and Lizzo still use Paisley Park’s recording studio. Members of the public are welcome for museum tours, concerts, special events, and artistic pilgrimages. We would like to buy our very own raspberry beret, but the gift shop is no secondhand store.

Nell Pierce (b. ?), Visual Artist

We’re in awe of the vibrantly colored, richly detailed collages by Nell Pierce. Large portraits from the series Q’llage show people looking inward or experiencing spiritual transformation. Pierce renders the figures so vividly that we can almost tell what they are thinking or feeling. Simultaneously, Pierce conveys that each one is a unique, irreplaceable individual.

Since Pierce moved to Minneapolis in 2014, they (Pierce uses non-binary pronouns) have been active in the creative community. Pierce co-founded Studio Thalo, which creates “graphic recordings” of events to support social justice work. Additionally, Pierce belongs to a group of activist-muralists called Creatives After Curfew. We would certainly sign up for one of Pierce’s new art classes if we lived nearby!

Jaida Grey Eagle (b. 1987 or 1988), Photographer

Jaida Grey Eagle, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, is an independent photographer based in St. Paul. While on a fellowship from Report for America, she worked for Sahan Journal (est. 2019), “a nonprofit digital newsroom dedicated to reporting for immigrants and communities of color in Minnesota.” Besides publishing her own work in places like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Grey Eagle helped to curate a recent exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now was on display from October 2023-January 2024. When the exhibit opened, Grey Eagle told a former colleague from Sahan Journal, “I just want people to know that communities are more than capable of telling their own story – and they always have been.” We’re keeping an eye out for new projects by this talented visual storyteller!

Wild Rumpus Books (est. 1992)

This beloved children’s bookstore, which was recently profiled in USA Today, has earned recognition from Publishers Weekly (Bookstore of the Year, 2017) and even Oprah! For more than 30 years, it has remained in business at its original location in south Minneapolis. Founder and owner Collette Morgan turned the store over to four employees when she retired in January 2024.

Besides fostering the next generation of bookworms, the new owners take great care of the store’s other creatures: two cats, two chinchillas, one pigeon, one cockatiel, numerous fish, and one gecko. They also maintain the Spooky Shed, an area dedicated year-round to Halloween. It’s the ideal place to retreat after buying Not Quite a Ghost by Minneapolis author Anne Ursu!

Peanuts Sculptures (est. 2003)

Did you know that the real-life Snoopy was from St. Paul? He was an eccentric piebald pointer named Spike, and he belonged to a talented boy named Charles Schulz (1922-2000). After serving in World War II, Schulz put Spike in a cartoon strip that appeared in Pioneer Press and The Minneapolis Tribune. Soon, Snoopy and friends achieved widespread fame.

After Schulz passed away, local artists created statues of his beloved characters for a fundraiser called Peanuts on Parade. The proceeds enabled local artisan collective TivoliToo to install permanent bronze tributes to Schulz’s work, but many of the original Peanuts on Parade statues remain on display. To find them, follow this map from The Minnesota Star Tribune!

Art Shanty Projects (est. 2004)

For four weekends every winter, Twin Cities artists create a temporary ice fishing village on a frozen lake. Their imaginations are unconstrained by building codes, according to the organizers, but fishing without a license is prohibited! That’s okay, because 27,000 people don’t come to the Art Shanty Projects every year to fish. They come for “the extreme winter sport of art making.”

The next event will take place from January 18 – Feburary 9, 2025, on Lake Harriet. If you can make it, you will be able to admire shanties like the Close Knit Pavilion and the Crankie Cabin. You could also participate in events like the Community Sing on Ice or the B-Icicle Race.

That’s our roundup! We hope it showed you why Minnesota should be known not just for its many lakes and famously nice residents, but also for its creativity!

Until next time, find some creativity wherever you can. Stay safe, and be well. #StandCreative